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"... I actually think it’s a great campaign issue,” Trump said. “I think it would be great before. But I don’t want to disappoint a lot of very good people that are working with me.” | Jewel Samad/Getty

Trump mulls whether to shut government down before or after midterms

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he is considering the merits of a government shutdown over immigration and border security measures and weighed publicly whether it would be more effective before or after November’s midterms.

Trump has said he is willing to shutter the government if his demands, including full funding for his long-promised border wall and an end to certain immigration programs, are not met.

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The president told conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh Wednesday that a pre-midterm shutdown might yield a better agreement but that other Republicans have pleaded with him not to shutter the government before the election.

“Well, if you do it before, there’s a lot more pressure to get a great solution. But it’s riskier. If you do it afterwards, there’s less pressure; there’s less risk,” Trump said. “I’m just not sure you’d make as good a deal. I will say a lot of people — good people — you know, would ask me in the nicest of ways, ‘Could we do it after the election?’”

The president’s immigration demands have long been a sticking point for Democrats, who have thus far been unwilling to accede. Most recently, Trump sought to tie those changes to a deal that would extend protections for so-called “Dreamers,” undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children, a deal Democrats refused to strike.

The president told Limbaugh that his decisions are “largely instinct” and that he felt an obligation to keep his Republican allies happy with any shutdown timing.

“They’ve been good to me. I’ve had a lot of good support within the Republican Party, and you saw the poll numbers in the Republican Party. They like me, so I have to keep them a little bit happy. But whether it’s before or after? But I actually think it’s a great campaign issue,” Trump said. “I think it would be great before. But I don’t want to disappoint a lot of very good people that are working with me.”